8am BCP Holy Communion (Brother Malcolm)

11am EMBODIED #3 “Body language”

The book of Esther is remarkable in many ways. It is the almost pantomime-esque narrative of a young Jewish girl who becomes a queen and ultimately plays a foremost role in saving her people from Haman, the villain of the piece. The drama unfolds through a sequence of communicative events in which nothing is said : Queen Vashti’s non-appearance, Xerxe’s acceptance of Esther, Haman’s (misinterpreted) bodily approach to her, the covering of Haman’s face, and so on. In this service, we will explore the implications of language mediated through the body. In a biblical book where one word – God – is notably absent, how are we to understand and respond to what is communicated to us when it is cast in terms of actions, not text?

This will be an EMBODIED service, following the style of the previous two such services that we had in July. We will have more musical elements, a discourse within the service, and the opportunity to explore the themes further in a smaller discussion group at the end.

5pm Evening prayer (Brother Chris Martin)

Over the summer, Radio 4 broadcast a series of programmes by Quentin Letts examining some of Britain’s cherished institutions. This one on the Book of Common Prayer is worth listening to if you haven’t heard it already.